Buckle.



W. L. CALIGAN.

BUCKLE.

- APPLICATION rummvn, 1918.

1,290,506. Patented Jan. 7,1919.

A TTORNEY ms Hollis mm: 00.. rumunm, musnmamfl. n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT onrron.

WILLIAM L. CALIG-AN, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT N.

BASSETT COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF'SI-IELTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPO- RATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

Application filed May 11, 1918. Serial No. 233,880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LJCALIGAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at the'city of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to buckles for running webbing but more particularly to that class of the same in which the back is provided with apertured sheet metal side ears 1'11 which are journaled laterally projecting trunnions of the lever member.

The object of my invention is to produce a device of this character in which the lever and back can be assembled by hand without utilizing the usual press or machine employed in the assembling operation of sheet metal buckles.

I attain this and other objects of my invention in the details of construction and manner of operation more fully set forth in the following description and accompanying drawings in whichlike reference charactersrefer to corresponding parts.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the buckle mounted on Webbing;

Fig. 2, a central, longitudinal section before the webbing is attached thereto, and

Fig. 3, a front view showing one position of the lever during the assembling operation, one of the ears being shown partially broken away.

The buckle generally comprises a back member A and a front member or lever B. The back A is suitably blanked and struck up out of sheet metal to form the back plate 2 having the forwardly turned side ears 3, 3, which latter are provided with perforations 4:. Immediately below the top edge 5 of the back plate 2 the metal is depressed to form a transversely disposed channel 6. The bottom of the back 2 is provided with a transversely disposed web-gripping lip 7. This lip 7 is of such a length that when it is folded up toward. the front face of the back plate its edge 8 will lie below the channel 6 as shown in Fig. 1. The lever B is also bent up out of a sheet metal blank to form the front portion or shield 9, the Web-engaging edge 10 and the laterally projecting trunnions 11, 12, which latter when the buckle is assembled are journaled in the apertures 4, 4: in the side ears 3, 3. The webbing C has one of its extremities 7c fastened to the back A by inserting it between the back plate 2 and the projecting lip 7 which latter is then pressed toward the back thy a swaging operation so that the extremity Z0 becomes securely gripped to the back member below the channel 6. The eX- tremity 70 being thus secured, the free or moving portion of the webbing is passed rearwardly over the top edge 5 of the back plate, then downwardly below the back and then upwardly between the lever and the back plate into the upper reach of the webbing. .When the lever B is shut down so that the buckle is closed the web-gripping edge 10 snapsinto the channel 6 causing a deflection of the moving portion of the webbing around the gripping edge which facilitates the holding qualities of the latter when the webbing is subjected to severe strains. The buckle thus far described is one well known in the art and is disclosed herein merely for the purpose of showing one form of buckle t which my invention is applied.

The trunnions 11, 12 of the lever are distanced slightly from the top 13 of the shield 9 and the metal of the web-gripping member or shelf 10 at the right-hand end of the lever is cut away so that the recess 14; is formed between the trunnion 12 and the top edge.

versed position of the lever is such that the. recess 14 adjacent to the trunnion 12 will.

pass over the narrow portion 15 of the ear when the lever is moved to the right as shown in Fig. 3. In other words, the narrow portion 15 of the ear will pass into the recess 1 1 of the lever. Then by moving the lever laterally to the right as described the left-hand trunnion 11 can readily be swung upwardly inside the left-hand ear 3 until it is in alinement with the left-hand aperture 4:. The lever is then moved laterally to the left and the trunnion 11 enters the aperture 4 causing the narrow portion 15 of the ear to move out of or clear the recess 14:. The lever is now in its assembled position and can be swung forwardly to bring the recess 1% out of alinement with the narrow portion 15 of the ear so that the lever and back become interlocked and can not be disassembled unless the lever is returned to its rearmost position. In this manner the lever and back are assembled without the employment of the usual machine or press for bending the ears during the process of inserting the trunnions in the apertures. It is not necessary that I should utilize apertured ears since cupped ears or other suitable bearings may be employed provided they are adapted to receive the lateral movement of the trunnions during the interlocking; operation. Neither is it necessary that the ears should be cut away on their rear sides, as shown, since they may be cut away to form the narrowed body portion at any other point around their peripheries, but it is desirable that such narrowed portion should not be in a position where the ear is subjected to the strain exerted by the lever trunnions when the buckle is opened and closed and when the webbing is under stress. Further, the narrowed portion may be formed by moving the position of the per foration toward the periphery instead of cutting away the metal forming the ear. I have shown both ears cut away for the purpose of giving the buckle a symmetrical appearance, although it is only necessary that the ear next to the recess in the lever member should be provided with this narrowed portion. It should be observed also that I swing the left-hand end of the lever upwardly when assembling the buckle, as shown in Fig. 3, but this end of the lever may be swung downwardly from the top of the buckle or forwardly from the rear side of the ear if desired. Of course it is understood that the ear may be of any suitable configuration besides that shown, it being merely necessary'that the body portion of the ear on one side of the bearing should be narrow enough to enter the recess in the lever member and that the body Copies of this patent may be obtainea for portion of the ear adjacent to the recess, when the lever is closed, should be wide enough to prevent the lateral movement of the lever member.

Although the device above described embodies the preferred form of my invention yet the same is susceptible to such modification as may fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having now described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A buckle having a pair of sheet metal side ears each of which is provided with a trunnion bearing, and a lever having later-v ally projecting trunnions seated in said bearings, the said lever being provided at one of its end portions adjacent to its trunnion with an inwardly projecting recess and the body portion of the adjacent ear between the side of its bearing and one side of said ear being narrower than the width of said recess, whereby the lever may be moved laterally when said recess and body portion are in alinement to permit the opposite trunnion to be swung into alinement with its bearin'g during the process of assembling the buckle.

2. A buckle having a pair of side ears each of which is provided with a trunnion bearing and a lever comprising a web-gripping arm and a front portion disposed at an angle to each other, the said Web-gripping arm of the lever being provided atv each extremity with a laterally projecting. trunnion and at one. of its extremities with an inwardly projecting recess adjacent to said trunnion, and the body portion of the ear adjacent to said recess. between the side of its bearing and the rear side of said ear being narrower than the width of said recess, whereby the lever may be moved laterally when in its open position and locked against lateral movement when in its closed position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of April 1918.

WVILLIAM L. CALIGAN.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. U. 

